NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore speak during a news conference aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. Photo credit: NASA Television
NASA and Boeing continue working to increase their understanding of the Starliner spacecraft’s propulsion system before the return of agency astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to Earth from the International Space Station. Teams are conducting ground tests at the agency’s White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico using a new Reaction Control System thruster previously planned for use on a future Starliner flight.
Wilmore and Williams provided an update Wednesday about their flight on Starliner and work aboard the space station during an Earth to space call. Following the crew news conference, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich and Boeing Commercial Crew Program Manager and Vice President Mark Nappi spoke extensively about the mission and testing plans ahead of the Crew Flight Test return. Listen to a replay of the leadership briefing.
After an agency-level readiness review later this month, NASA and Boeing plan to select a new target return date for the Crew Flight Test. Following this review, NASA plans to host a televised briefing and will share more details on that when finalized.
Technicians used a 30-ton crane to lift NASA’s Orion spacecraft on Friday, June 28, 2024, from the Final Assembly and System Testing (FAST) cell to the altitude chamber inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft, which will be used for the Artemis II mission to orbit the Moon, underwent leak checks and end-to-end performance verification of the vehicle’s subsystems.
NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II mission was lifted out of the Final Assembly and System Testing cell on June 28 inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The integrated spacecraft has been undergoing final rounds of testing and assembly, including end-to-end performance verification of its subsystems and checking for leaks in its propulsion systems.
A 30-ton crane returned Orion into the recently renovated altitude chamber where it underwent electromagnetic testing. The spacecraft now will undergo a series of vacuum chamber qualification testing. The tests will subject the spacecraft to a near-vacuum environment by removing air, thus creating a space where the pressure is extremely low. This results in no atmosphere, similar to the one the spacecraft will experience during future lunar missions.
Testing will span approximately a week, with technicians collecting data from the spacecraft’s chamber, cabin, and the environmental control and life support system to test spacesuit functionality. The data recorded during these tests will be used to qualify the spacecraft to safely fly the Artemis II astronauts through the harsh environment of space.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: SpaceX
The NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) team received telemetry from GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U), indicating the spacecraft is functioning nominally and is power positive. The NOAA GOES-U satellite has now safely deployed, and NOAA has acquired a signal. GOES-U will take about two weeks to reach geostationary orbit. Once there, the satellite will be renamed GOES-19.
NOAA oversees the GOES-R Series Program through an integrated NOAA-NASA office, managing the ground system, operating the satellites, and distributing their data to users worldwide.
On board GOES-U is a suite of seven instruments for collecting advanced imagery and atmospheric measurements, providing real-time mapping of lightning activity, and detecting approaching space weather hazards. Also onboard for the first time is the compact coronagraph that will observe the Sun’s outermost layer, called the corona, for large explosions of plasma that could produce geomagnetic solar storms.
NASA teams will complete an in-orbit checkout of the satellite’s instruments and systems prior to handing it over to NOAA’s Office of Satellite and Product Operations, which will verify the satellite’s science data.
The GOES-U satellite is the last of NOAA’s GOES-R Series satellites, the only system that provides persistent coverage of the Western Hemisphere that enables forecasters to predict, observe, and track local weather events on Earth and in space that affect public safety like thunderstorms, hurricanes, wildfires, and solar storms.
The environmental monitoring satellite constellation is planned to operate into the 2030s.
Looking forward, NOAA is working with NASA to develop the next generation of operational satellites in geostationary orbit, called Geostationary Extended Observations. NASA will manage the development and launch the satellites for NOAA.
For additional information on the GOES-U launch, visit:
NOAA’s GOES-U satellite separates from SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket on its way to geostationary orbit, about 22,236 miles above Earth, on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: NASA Television
The NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) has separated from the SpaceX Falcon Heavy second stage rocket.
The GOES-U spacecraft will now unfurl its solar arrays and work toward powering up and establishing communications with ground controllers.
Follow along while the team works to acquire signal from the satellite.
Continue checking NASA’s GOES blog for additional mission milestones, or join the conversation and get updates on social media by following these accounts:
The second stage of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy completes its final burn ahead of deployment of NOAA’s GOES-U mission on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: NASA Television
The rocket’s second stage completed its final burn before it separates from the satellite. The satellite will separate from the rocket in about eight minutes. Then, about 15 minutes later, the satellite will deploy its solar array and should achieve a power positive state about 10 minutes.
Continue checking NASA’s GOES blog for additional mission milestones, or join the conversation and get updates on social media by following these accounts:
The second stage of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy during launch of NOAA’s GOES-U mission on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: NASA Television
The second stage of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy fired its engines for more than a minute, before experiencing the second stage engine cut off of this mission.
The GOES-U satellite now will coast for just under four hours before its final burn, establishing it in a geostationary orbit, about 22,236 miles above Earth.
Continue checking NASA’s GOES blog for additional mission milestones, or join the conversation and get updates on social media by following these accounts:
Side boosters from SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket land at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: SpaceX
The SpaceX Falcon Heavy’s dual first-stage side boosters have completed near-simultaneous touchdowns at Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Meanwhile, the rocket has completed the first second stage engine cut off. It will experience cut off twice more. The NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) satellite continues its journey to a geostationary orbit, about 22,236 miles above the equator. It will coast for just under 20 minutes before it experiences a short burn.
Continue checking NASA’s GOES blog for additional mission milestones, or join the conversation and get updates on social media by following these accounts:
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: SpaceX
The Falcon Heavy center core’s nine Merlin engines have reached cutoff, and the booster has separated from the second stage.
Coming up next, the Falcon Heavy’s second stage engine starts up. Following that, the protective payload fairings will be jettisoned revealing NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) to the vacuum of space for the first time as it makes its way to geosynchronous orbit.
Continue checking NASA’s GOES blog for additional mission milestones, or join the conversation and get updates on social media by following these accounts:
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) mission lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:26 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) mission launched at 5:26 p.m. EDT, June 25 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
A series of rapid events occurs after launch, one of the most important is Max Q – the moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket. After Max Q the Falcon Heavy’s dual side booster engines will cutoff and separate from the center core booster to begin their recovery journey for vertical landings at SpaceX Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Landing should occur about eight and a half minutes after liftoff.
Still to come is the center core’s main engine cutoff and separation from the Falcon Heavy’s second stage.
NASA will provide continuous mission coverage on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website until 6 p.m. NASA will then provide live updates at the top of every hour until approximately 10 p.m.
Continue checking NASA’s GOES blog for additional mission milestones, or join the conversation and get updates on social media by following these accounts:
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) stands vertical at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: NASA Television
Behind the iconic countdown clock at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) stands vertical at Launch Complex 39A at the spaceport in Florida on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: NASA TelevisionCountdown to the 5:26 p.m. EDT liftoff of the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida continues as planned.
Moments ago, the “engine chill” process of conditioning the 27 main Merlin engines on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket got underway.
This conditioning process helps the engines avoid cold shock when the super-chilled liquid oxygen flows during launch.
